So many of them have been mentioned before, but I think a special mention goes out to the pioneers of electronic music. The progenitors of the now-elastic set of electronic genres mainly used classical and (then-)avant-garde orchestrated music to motivate their electronic experimentation, but they have spurred a number of genres, cross-genres, and genre-crossing artists with their groundbreaking work. Here are a few trailblazers that have been particularly influential in my understanding of electronic music:
Isao TomitaAlways eager to apply his extensive compositional skills to new technologies, Isao Tomita adapted both pre-20th century classical works and instant classics like the Star Wars Theme using his Moog. My favorite work by Tomita is on
Snowflakes are Dancing, in particular Tomita's interpretation of "Claire de Lune."
Brian EnoEno is often credited (sometimes by himself) as the inventor of ambient music. While his claim is sometimes challenged by Cage followers, Eno has certainly redefined the use of electronics in rock and avant-garde music. From his time in Roxy Music to his work on Bowie's Berlin Trilogy to his groundbreaking collaborations with John Cale, Robert Fripp and others to his widely varying solo career, Eno has had one of the most prolific and exciting careers of any electronic artist. Call me boring, but I prefer his work on
Another Green World, in particular the tracks "St. Elmo's Fire" and the title track. I also really like
Evening Star by Fripp and Eno, a lovely album made largely with an early version of "Frippertronics", which is a prototypical delay system consisting guitar that is run through two reel-to-reel tape recorders.
KraftwerkOften credited as the fathers of techno, these Germans made a career out of making robots human while still sounding like robots. I like
Trans-Europe Express, like everyone else.
Jean-Michel JarreI've always considered Jarre to be one of the lamest rock stars ever, but he was one of the first new age megastars and he spawned a generation of equally lame techno megastars. I've always preferred
Les Chantes Magnetiques (or
Magnetic Fields, in particular Part I for the synth histrionics that are indicative of the dramatic techno that has influenced all sorts of composers from the Human League to modern techno artists.
Bernard SzajnerOften referred to as "the French Brian Eno", Szajner combined elements of rock with minimalist electronic beats and was a major influence on the Detroit techno scene. He is a bit of a footnote queen as he invented the laser harp used famously by Jean-Michel Jarre and worked extensively with Buzzcocks and Magazine frontman Howard Devoto. I like
Some Deaths Take Forever, which includes the hypnotic opening track "Welcome (To Death Row)".
Of course I'm forgetting to mention artists like Wendy/Walter Carlos, Silver Apples of the Moon, Harmonia, Klauze Schulze, Mike Oldfield, Vangelis, Cabaret Voltaire, and many many others who popularized and revolutionized electronics in music. Ther are also newer artists like Boards of Canada, Autechre, Jim O'Rourke, and others from the 90s who have continued to shape the evolution of electronic music, but I am focusing on pre-1980s artists. Does anyone else have any (pre-1980) classic techno or electronic music that they love?
